Benny Boy is 6!

I'm almost a month late, but we did indeed celebrate Ben's 6th birthday in July. He's slightly obsessed with Legos lately, so it was no surprise when he chose that for the theme. We thought it would be the perfect time for our first visit to the new Lego Land in Grapevine...

There were rides, lots of Legos to build with, and some pretty amazing creations for us to check out...

Dallas Skyline

The one and only Dirk

And Mo's favorite, Buzz Lightyear

The boys loved the giant jungle gym/obstacle course too. They were too fast to get a picture except for this one I managed to snap right as the birthday boy came down for about the 100th time...

He was so happy to have this Lego man shirt to wear that he got as a birthday present from the Hopewells - thanks again!

Even Sadie enjoyed herself in the smaller toddler-friendly "Duplo" area...

Overall, it was a fun time. We made the mistake of going on the weekend though - very crowded and crazy. We didn't even get to go on the Harry Potter ride or see the little Lego movie because it was so crazy and Sadie was getting overwhelmed - kind of a bummer when you pay so much money! Ben was happy though and I guess that's all that really matters.

At home, the Lego theme continued with his presents...

I love the look of excitement on his face...makes me so happy. Even though it was late, we couldn't resist his pleading to start working on it right away. We let him build the police cars and then finished the police station the next day after church...

He was so proud of the finished product (with just a little bit of help from his dad)...

He also picked out a Lego airplane with some money he got from his Granny and Opa. He put it together ALL by himself!

He also got some presents from Granny and Pops before they left on vacation - the Lego police helicopter that goes with the police station and an awesome quilt my mom made (that was a surprise even I didn't know about). Sadly, I didn't have my camera so I'll have to post those pictures after I get them from my sister...hint hint!)

I had very specific instructions from Ben for his birthday cake...I gave it my best attempt (which as you can see was not all that great and somewhat lop-sided. Oh well, he liked it all the same!)...

 

I can't believe my little boy is 6 already! He has changed and grown up so much this past year. I can tell he's going to be a fine young man (and probably an engineer if his Lego fascination keeps up...haha). We're only a week away from starting 1st grade and I'm just so proud of how smart, talented, and kind he is (well, most of the time). Of course, there are also times he can frustrate me to no end - he loves to bug and push buttons and he can get pretty crazy and wild (typical boy). But overall, he's just a good kid with an inquisitive mind and endless energy. We're so glad he's part of our family.

 We love you, Benny Boy!

Summer Vacation 2011: Part 3

Warning: Very long post ahead...just had to get it done!

The next day we went on a little hike up at Cascade Springs with John's brother, Mark, and his family.  It's a quick hike, which is good since it was pretty warm up there on the mountain, but so worth it for beautiful views like this...

It's perfect for young kids...the cousins had a great time together.

 

 

These guys were my picture posing pros...

Sadie had it made in the shade...

But, of course, she had to get down and do a little exploring on her own too...

The other explorers managed to find a few fish swimming around...

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Mark and Candace's house - the kids played, the adults talked...it was great. We even got to help Emma celebrate her 3rd birthday that night (a fun little peek at what I'm in for as Sadie grows up - a whole lot of princess and pink!).


We met up with them again on Friday in Park City. John's mom (along with 6 more cousins...that's 12 total for this outing!) came too for some Alpine Slide fun.  Granny Sylvia watched Sadie for us while we took the boys up the chairlift...

The ride up was fun, but it's way better coming down! John managed to catch me and Matt Mo crossing the finish line...

Later, we met up with my brother, Josh, and his family for dinner. They happened to be driving down from Wyoming for the weekend - lucky for us! We ordered a pizza and let the kids run wild at a nearby park...

 Our kids are the same ages and they had lots of fun together. Sadie and cousin Zach are only 3 weeks apart...

 

It was fun catching up with them, we could've stayed all night chatting...especially the 2 lawyers discussing work (with a side of fishing/camping...yawn).

Our last day of fun before the LONG drive home was spent with cousins again...yay! This time, at Rock Canyon Park. There's a nice little river flowing through it from all the winter snow - perfect for the kids to go tubing down...

 

From what I was told, the water was FREEZING cold.  It obviously didn't phase the big kids, but Sadie was not having it...

She still had a good time though...

She was happy to chase the dog and run away from her crazy brothers...

Later that night, we met up with some of John's high school friends and their families. Sadly, I completely forgot to take any pictures! It was a great end to our week in Utah though. Definitely a summer vacation to remember. We're already missing the mountains and the cooler weather, but nothing beats home, sweet, home!

Summer Vacation 2011: Part 2

The next day, we headed up to SLC to one of the boys' favorite places...the Discovery Museum!

I think they could spend all day in the "ball contraption" area alone...

They also really love the "construction zone"...

 And, of course, the water area is always a hit...

Sadie was excited to splash around too...

But her favorite area was probably the play house. She wanted to rock the babies, push the pretend vacuum and talk on the phone... guess she wants to be like her mommy!

She also got a kick out of pretending to drive...

 And pretending to ride...

I'm certain the Discovery Museum will be a "must do" every time we visit Utah from here on out!

After Sadie's nap, we all went up to Deer Valley resort for a picnic dinner and a free concert...

The weather could not have been more perfect and the band was pretty good too...good enough for Sadie to bust a few moves!

To be continued...

Summer Vacation 2011: Part 1

Whew...we survived another long road trip to Utah for summer vacation. Aside from the many hours in the car, we had a wonderful time. We stopped in Colorado on our way up to visit GG and Papa. It was so nice to take a day off from driving and just hang out and relax with them. As is tradition, Sadie took a ride on Papa's "horsey"...

She was fascinated by the boys' headphones so those made it onto her horsey ride too...haha.

Our first day in Utah was full of 4th of July fun. We started it out with the Provo parade. The boys were a little disappointed that no one was throwing candy (like they do in Manassa, Colorado for the Pioneer Days) but they still thought it was fun. As you can tell by our red cheeks, it was pretty darn hot too...

Afterward, we met up with some of John's siblings and their kids for lunch at the Riverwoods. The kids had a ball cooling off in the fountains...

Cousin Lucy and Ben

Sadie drenched herself (and thought it was quite hilarious) within five minutes. I ended up running into one of the stores to get her some dry clothes to ride home in. John says I can always find an excuse to shop, haha!

Afterward, I took Sadie home for a nap (she was exhausted from all our travels) while John and the boys hiked up to Stewart Falls with the cousins...

Sad I missed out on this gorgeousness...

The boys were so excited to find that there was still some snow left on the mountain right by the falls! All that snow from this winter also meant the falls were coming down hard and fast, which they loved, of course...

John, Mo, and Ben at Stewart Falls

Cousin Matt Brown and Matt Mo at Stewart Falls

Later that night, we had a family BBQ at Uncle Cory's house. We gorged ourselves on yummy shish-kebabs and home-made ice cream while the kids ran around the backyard. We were having such a wonderful time I didn't even think to take pictures...dang it! I also didn't get any pictures of the impromptu fireworks we saw coming from every direction around the neighborhood...it was pretty darn cool though. We saw plenty more from the car as we drove home to Midway that night. We planned to watch the fireworks show up there, but the kids fell asleep in the car. You know it was a good day of playing hard when this happens...

We decided to use the next day to recover from all our fun and travels. We played at the park, ate pizza, got ice cream cones, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was heavenly.

To be continued...